Wartime

Brook and its surrounding villages had their fair share of highs and lows during the two world wars.

A stained glass memorial window in Brook Church gives the names of those people from Brook and the neighbouring parishes who served and those who died.

In both World Wars, Brook people of military age went into the services unless they were in reserved occupations. But the village remained for the most part a peaceful place. Occasionally areoplanes came very close, and one or two actually came down. It was a worrying time for all.

In 1942 Bert Morris, a fitter and turner by trade, was working at Chivertons garage in Newport. He installed new machinery in part of the garage given over to war work, producing thousands of component parts for spitfires, landing craft, pumps for floating pontoons for bridges, etc he worked from 8.00 to 8.00 with a motor cycle journey to and from Newport.

The first incident of the Second World War to affect Brook was announced by The County Press in 1939, when one of the new RAF fighters tested its guns before it was quite over the sea, ‘more care should be exercised,’ the IOW County Press calmly suggested.

In 1942 Bert Morris, a fitter and turner by trade, was working at Chevertons garage in Newport. He installed new machinery in part of the garage given over to war work, producing thousands of component parts for Spitfires, landing craft,...

Life went on as best it could, children still went to school, armed with their gas masks. Mary Petitt moved to Dunsbury in 1944 aged 6 and remembers: Miss Nicholson had a Scottie dog, which she brought to school.